The Sea.Hear.Now Festival has announced their return to Asbury Park, New Jersey this year and has revealed their long-awaited lineup. Big names like Pearl Jam, Billy Idol and the Smashing Pumpkins are topping the bill.
The annual fest will take place September 18-19 this year, showcasing live music alongside surfing demos by professional wave surfers on Asbury’s North Beach.
Pearl Jam, The Avett Brothers, Lord Huron, Patti Smith and Her Band, Patti Scialfa and more will take the stage on Saturday, September 18. The Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Idol, Dirty Heads, Grouplove, Orville Peck and more will close out the weekend of music on Sunday, September 19.
New additions to the music lineup include R&B singer/songwriter Cory Henry, as well as rockers White Denim and Strand of Oaks.
Sea.Hear.Now’s world-class lineup of surfers, including 2018 New Jersey Female Surfer of the Year Cassidy McLain, will compete in daily North Beach Expression Sessions. Expression Sessions are “soulful” alternatives to the traditional surf meet, where top surfers come together to show off their best moves. At Sea.Hear.Now, surfers will be grouped into sets of five, where they will have 30 minutes to catch as many waves as they can. The scoring system is based on the surfer’s creativity and style in each ride.
Art installations are the main centerpieces of the event, accenting the beauty of the shoreline. Murals and recycled surfboards will create a walkway arch down the sand called “Stoke Henge,” and Danny Clinch’s Transparent Gallery Pop Up will be on display this year.
According to festival staff, organizers are in regular communication with local health and public safety officials and will follow current recommendations and guidelines at the time of the festival. Patrons will receive regular updates regarding procedures, which will also be shared on their social media.
A limited number of two-day General Admission Tickets are available to purchase now on the Sea.Hear.Now ticket website. Children ages seven and under may attend for free alongside a ticketed adult.
Brooklyn’s alternative rock band Superbloom has dropped Live at Studio G, a 3 song live EP made up of tracks off their upcoming studio LP ‘Pollen’ out June 1st. The EP includes the live version of a new single, in fact, the title track, off the upcoming LP Pollen.
Superbloom: Live at Studio G was recorded at Studio G in Brooklyn, engineered by Jack Counce, and mixed & mastered by Brian DiMeglio. The EP contains three songs off the new album Pollen including the title track itself, “Mary on a Chain,” and “Whatever.”
Superbloom’s recent singles “Muzzle,” “Whatever” and “Mary on a Chain,” needed a good follow-up considering those landed on Spotify’s All New Rock, Alternative Noise playlists and more. They definitely lived up to the hype with both Pollen the single and the album.
Recording at Studio G was a dream. We’re huge fans of live studio recordings like Audiotree, KEXP and Live at Studio 4 and we sort of threw ourselves at the idea with our own resources. The studio itself is unreal and Jack is a longtime friend of the band. We spent the day hanging out, messing with tones, playing through the songs and eating pizza. Can’t imagine a better day for a band.
Their debut album, Pollen is a 12-track love-letter to heavy alternative music. A mixture of old and new make up every song, if you’re looking for something fresh that somehow still sparks nostalgia Pollen has got it. Perfect for road trips or hangs by the water.
With all the vibes of Seattle moved to the east coast this Brooklyn based band brought grunge into 2021 in a great way. If you have any sort of Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, or Pearl Jam shaped hole in your heart Superbloom is the sound to fix that. Most of the album is face paced but if you want to slow it down Muzzle or Twig are the songs for you.
The album was mastered by Will Yip (whose credits include projects with The Menzingers, Turnstile, Quicksand, Mannequin Pussy, Code Orange), mixed by Joe Reinhart (Beach Bunny, Remo Drive, Joyce Manor, Hop Along), artwork by Patrick Turk Collage Art, and produced by Superbloom.
While the album’s feedback-laced instrumentation is hard-hitting at every turn, the band’s sonic signature is embedded in the vocal performance that fills each track with complex layering, earworm melodies and lush harmonies that deliver discoveries of nuanced detail with each listen. The sounds span from infectiously bouncy hard rock, instantly nostalgic acoustic songs, sing-along choruses, and undeniable hooks.
Pollen released on all streaming services on June 1, and is available for digital and pre-orders for the 180 gram blue with white marble vinyl, on June 14.
NYC-based Colombian producer, singer-songwriter, and sound engineer Otto Botté unleashed his vibrant new single, “Dancing Company,” featuring Emma Claye. The song is accompanied by a Pablo Morelo-directed lyric video and news that the rising artist will release his debut EP, Dancing Company Vol. I, on July 16.
On the title offering of his forthcoming debut EP, Botté delivers a genre-defying track about passionate nights on the dancefloor while highlighting Claye’s dreamy vocals with an array of live instrumentation and house-leaning synths.
With “Dancing Company,” the self-taught, multi-faceted sound engineer and artist demonstrates his ability to infuse traditional Colombian roots music and Latin pop with elements of house music. The dance influences he’s absorbed from a decade of immersing himself in NYC’s nightlife and music scene by working with a spectrum of rising and prominent musicians shine on this single.
The lyric video, which premiered via Bands Do Brooklyn, starred Botte himself and Emma Claye and displays both the Spanish and English translations of the song. The colorful background interposed with the black and white filtered shots highlights how well the video was color-graded. The high-energy cuts and continuous dancing replicate the clubbable vibe of the track.
This song has freed me to express my unfiltered version through flirtiness and sensuality looking to portray the beauty in human connection, whether it’s instant and led by sounds or when it’s intimate and sensed through smells. I see God reflected in our ability to connect in community. There’s a line in the song that says, ‘I feel you watching me like if I got no clothes on’ and this takes place on the dance floor when I’m doing my thing, feeling watched by somebody else, desired, and vulnerable, yet comfortable in my skin.
“This thought immediately made me draw a parallel in my relationship with God and how comfortable I can be when I feel naked or mess-up, when I dance or sing, just being my true self before God, knowing that he looks over and meets me no matter how lonely or fulfilled I may feel. It’s refreshing to feel his presence in my daily life, in and outside of music, on and off the dance floor,” he added.
“Dancing Company” the third single released off of Botté’s debut EP after “Humbara,” which recently surpassed 100K global streams, received its first radio spin Wednesday on Los Angeles’s 88.5FM LatinAlt HD3. So far, this time around Botté has received support from Indie Criollo and EDM Nations. Previous support has come from NPR Music’s World Cafe, Acid Stag, Medium, Urban Latino, The Fox Magazine, and Kick Kick Snare, just to name a few.
Tracklist for Otto’s debut EP, including unreleased remixes by Jacuzzi Jefferson:
Since arriving in NYC as a teenager from Bogotá, Botté has acquired a Best Remixed Recording – Non-Classical Grammy nomination in 2015 for his co-mastering of “Waves” by Mr. Probz, a remix of Robin Schulz. Credits on multi-platinum projects of Enrique Iglesias, Joey Bada$$, Trey Songz, Fedez, and more. Botté is also a member of the NYC-based electronic trio Pool Cosby, which most recently released its Day Breaks album in 2020 and has been featured on Billboard, Earmilk, GRUNGECAKE, and more.
New York City-based indie alternative act D’Arcy shared her newest single “Bad Habit” on May 28 in preparation for the release of her debut EP album and tour.
D’Arcy’s debut single, “Crush,” was released in October 2020. “Crush” was followed by her single “Bad Girls” in December 2020 with a remix by producer Morgothbeatz, who has previously worked on tracks with rappers Lil Xan and Juice WRLD.
“Bad Habit” stands in contrast to D’Arcy’s other tracks, which focus on upbeat young love, lust and wild nights. “Bad Habit,” with its buzzing bassline and low-spirited lyrics seems to reflect the aftermath of the “cocaine, head spin, pills and gin,” that D’Arcy sings about in “Bad Girls.”
D’Arcy’s alternative style shines in “Bad Habit,” using original electronic tracks that add to the mysterious and grungy feel of the lyrics. The genre-bending singer sticks out in a similar way that Nine Inch Nails does, shifting from electronic, to art-pop, to more angsty alt-rock in each single. D’Arcy is one of those artists that simply can’t be kept within a genre label.
Bad Habit centers on a struggle with addiction and the road to recovery, the song involves self-awareness about the reality of addiction.
D’Arcy
“Bad Habit” also evokes a similar vibe to popular singer Lorde’s alternative style, both discussing themes like addiction, nightlife, and settling into adulthood. D’Arcy’s developing style through her first three singles is a promising introduction for her upcoming album.
D’Arcy’s “Hard to Kill” Summer Tour headlined by country singer Lee Dewyze will kick off on August 14 and make four stops in New York State in September. D’Arcy’s debut EP will be released in mid-August.
Some songs are written with such great embodiment of the human spirit that they become far bigger than a simple, melodic hook you whistle in the shower. They are the songs that represent a period in time for a group of oppressed people and epitomize the challenges they faced on a daily basis. Unlike other songs that come and go as life drifts on, these anthems leave such an impact that they are still read about in history books years later. For the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, the protest song “We Shall Overcome” was sang far and wide in tribute to peaceful protest. While the song was influential to many groups in the 1960s, its significance in the LGBT movement came after the Stonewall riots of New York in 1969.
Most people know that Pride Month is in June, however, many don’t realize that’s because on June 28, 1969, the catalyst for the LGBT movement occurred in riot form at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. The Stonewall Inn was a well-known, mafia-run gay night club which hosted an array of illegal activities from an absent liquor license and prostitution to dealing drugs. While the bar owners were normally tipped off about police raids, on the night of the 1969 riot, they weren’t told anything would be happening. The police barricaded the 200+ patrons and employees in the bar and began to arrest all the transvestites they could find.
As the cops were arresting patrons, to their surprise, bystanders began to push back against the heavy police presence in the form of verbal taunts and thrown bottles. At that point, raids on gay bars were becoming routine and, for the LGBT community, the raid on the Stonewall Inn was the last straw. As police were dragging people into their paddy wagon, the crowd began to boil and violence soon erupted. Bricks and bottles were being thrown at the cops as more people from around the neighborhood began to join in on the protest, forcing the police into a rare retreat. While some of the crowd turned violent, many others committed to nonviolence in the form of jokes, kick-lines and songs.
As an unstable riot occurred all around, the protest hymn “We Shall Overcome” echoed through the streets long into the night. For days following the Stonewall riot, more protests, mostly nonviolent, began to pop up all around the city. A gay community began to form and within six months two gay activist organizations were established in New York. The movement was given legs, and by June 28 of the following year, the first gay pride marches took place in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco to commemorate the anniversary of the riots. “We Shall Overcome” was a vital tool used to demonstrate nonviolence throughout each protest.
Originally written as a hymn titled “I’ll Overcome Someday” by Charles Albert Tindley in 1900, the song was warped multiple times throughout history before it became the protest anthem we know today. It was sang by tobacco workers, vagabond travelers, and eventually political activists. It became associated with the Civil Rights Movement in 1959 when Guy Carawan sang his and Pete Seeger’s version of the song at a nonviolent civil rights protest. From there, other artists began using it as a protest tool, playing it at rallies, folk festivals and other demonstrations to make it clear to the world that oppression will not be tolerated.
‘We Shall Overcome’ Lyrics:
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS:
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day
We’ll walk hand in hand
We’ll walk hand in hand
We’ll walk hand in hand some day
CHORUS
We shall all be free
We shall all be free
We shall all be free some day
CHORUS
We are not afraid
We are not afraid
We are not afraid some day
CHORUS
We are not alone
We are not alone
We are not alone some day
CHORUS
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around some day
CHORUS
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS
Brooklyn-based Wild Yaks have announced Live at Rippers, their fifth LP and first live album, due July 16, 2021. Alongside its digital release, Live At Rippers will be available in a run of 500 LPs with jackets hand-screened in Rockaway Beach, NY. Wild Yaks are proud to be the first band back at the venue in 2021, setting a performance there for July 17.
For Wild Yaks, music is the ability to take the horrible parts of life, and elevate them into a sacred, firey riot.
I think my chief interest is to transform despair into moments for celebration. What I’m trying to do is rejoice in what’s fragile, and rejoice in what’s already broken. The only thing that I will accept is being fully abandoned. It’s about moving and singing with no concern for the consequences.
Wild Yaks’ frontman and songwriter Rob Bryn.
Live at Rippers presents this vision and the band’s “sense-clobbering” performance better than any album to date. It was recorded at the Rockaway Beach punk-rock-beach-burger-joint Rippers in October of 2019. Bryn again:
Almost all of the songs grew out of moments that happened in Rockaway. And to perform them at Rippers on the altar of blood from which so many of these things sprang is strange and amazing.
Wild Yaks play an ecstatic fusion of punk rock and big-city folk reinforced with passionate vocals (often delivered in unison by the full membership). The band was formed in the fall of 2007 in Brooklyn, New York by singer/guitarist Rob Bryn and drummer/vocalist Martin Cartagena.
While many players have made their way through the Yaks’ over the years, today’s lineup is Jose Aybar (bass), Patsy Carroll (guitar), Giovanni Kincade (Farfisa), Matt Walsh (guitar), plus Cartagena and Bryn. The Yaks’ discography also includes the EP 10 Ships (Don’t die yet, 2009), and full-length albums Million Years(2012), Rejoice! God Loves Wild Yaks (2015), and Great Admirer (2019). The band’s music has been featured in numerous television shows and films, most notably their live performance in an episode of Law and Order SVU.
Boston Calling Festival has announced their return to the Harvard Athletic Complex on May 27-29, 2022, with headliners Foo Fighters and Rage Against the Machine.
Foo Fighters and Rage Against the Machine were both set to headline Boston Calling in 2020 with the Red Hot Chili Peppers before the festival was cancelled due to the pandemic. These two iconic rockers will top the bill of a lineup with over 60 performers next year, including an additional headliner, that have yet to be announced.
RATM’s performance will be the band’s only New England show on their 2022 North American tour, where the band will be reuniting for the first time after a decade. Foo Fighters, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary and their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, will be performing at Boston Calling as the fourth stop on their 2021-2022 tour.
A limited number of early bird 3-Day General Admission, VIP, and Platinum tickets are on sale now on the Boston Calling website. According to festival coordinators, the early bird period features all three ticket tiers at its lowest pricing for Boston Calling 2022.
Anderson .Paak’s performance at Boston Calling 2019
Aside from musical performances, Boston Calling plans to showcase new forms of entertainment from DJ sets to comedy shows, alongside extensive food and drink offerings from over 35 vendors.
A shot from Boston Calling at City Hall Plaza in 2016
Expanded offerings in the VIP and Platinum tiers in 2022 have also been announced. Fans can expect new viewing areas within the sections, including views of both the Red and Green Stages, and an expanded viewing deck within the Platinum section.
More information will be shared as it is announced. Check out the Boston Calling website for more in-depth details on the festival’s offerings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHX72IH79a8
Boston Calling 2022 Teaser Video
Update on 7/14/21: Run the Jewels and Black Pumas join the lineup. This will be Run the Jewels’ third time performing at the festival. Black Pumas are making their Boston Calling debut. A limited number of early bird 3-day tickets are on sale now at www.bostoncalling.com. The early bird 3-Day General Admission tickets ($299.99), 3-Day VIP tickets ($799.99), and 3-Day Platinum tickets ($1,599.99) are on sale now. A special limited 2-pack of early bird 3-Day GA tickets ($549.99) is also available. This early bird period will offer the lowest pricing for 3-Day tickets for Boston Calling 2022.
“Left Side” is the debut single from Endearments (a.k.a Kevin Marksson). The Brooklyn-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist began writing and composing by and for himself for the first time in fifteen years following the end of synth-pop duo Saint Marilyn in 2019. “Left Side” is definitely a way to start his single career strong.
Album Cover
The song itself is about how O.C.D. (Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder) affects Marksson and his relationships. The resulting track unspools unanswerable questions over mighty pulses from drummer Jonathan Schmidt and Marksson’s own multi-tracked vocals, which flicker, omnipresent and cool, around the edges of the song’s atmosphere. In this song the low-fi beat with his voice is one where you can just close your eyes and vibe out to.
This single has Marksson leaning into his obsessive tendencies pouring over every sound and lyric, tweaking every riff and arpeggiation to convey the inner workings of his mind: disorder and parallelism.
Photo Cred: Rita Iovine
His chosen name, Endearments, is because “I wanted the name to convey affection, even though I knew the music would almost certainly be sad.” Taking inspiration from auteurs like Peter Gabriel and Justin Vernon, Endearments’ lush sonics and careful songcraft reflect Marksson’s avowed status as a hardware-focused composer. Marksson is a longstanding accomplice in the Brooklyn indie rock scene.
Vision Festival 25: Breaking Free, Coming Home will display hundreds of artists of various disciplines—free jazz, poetry, visual arts, conversations— as one of the first in-person music festivals to return to New York City.
The Arts for Art sponsored event will take place over seven nights, July 22-23 and 29-30 at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, and July 24-25 and 31 at The Clemente in the Lower East Side, and all events will be in-person, outdoors and livestreamed.
In 1996 the First Annual Vision Festival took place to bring together luminaries from different avant-garde music scenes and to celebrate the important African American leaders of the music. That first Vision Festival was unique in its multi-arts focus featuring poets in collaboration with the music. Each year since the Vision Festival has brought attention to issues of social justice by curating panel discussions, such as “Decolonizing the Music: Reclaiming the Power of Creative Music in Communities of Color” and “How Funding Affects Creative Choices.”
In-person, outdoors and livestream performances will feature William Parker, Amina Claudine Myers Lifetime Achievement, Elder Ones, Jaimie Branch, Fay Victor, Nicole Mitchell, James Blood Ulmer, David Murray, Cooper-moore, James Brandon Lewis, A Tribute To Milford Graves W/ John Zorn, Andrew Cyrille, and many more. Additional programming will be announced in the coming weeks.
Pianist, vocalist, poet, and actor Amina Claudine Myers will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award on July 23. Arts For Art will acknowledge Myers work including her achievements as a pianist, organist, composer, and singer. Her mentoring of many young musicians around the globe, especially women, for which she has been a shining and all too rare example. She is an extraordinary artist who has added so much to the important tradition of African American extended musical forms.
Myers is a founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (A.A.C.M.). She has recorded 11 albums under her leadership. Her recording career combines her gospel and blues inspirations with an improviser’s freedom and includes classic albums like The Circle of Time, Amina Claudine Myers Salutes Bessie Smith and her latest solo piano and voice effort Sama Rou (Songs From My Soul).
As live shows become safer, we’ll gather and share our creative visions to make space for a more compassionate world. Vision’s message this year is about coming home to our strong self. Our home is within. The past year gave us time to listen to ourselves and now we are home.
Arts for Art founder, Patricia Nicholson Parker
ARTS FOR ART PRESENTS
VISION FESTIVAL 25: BREAKING FREE, COMING HOME
JULY 22-31 in NYC
JULY 22-23, 29-30 @ PIONEER WORKS, BROOKLYN
JULY 24-25 & 31 @ THE CLEMENTE, LOWER EAST SIDE
VISION FESTIVAL 25 PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
THURS, JULY 22 @ PIONEER WORKS
159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn
6:00pm Opening Healing Ceremony: William Parker – bass / Patricia Nicholson Parker – text, movement / Jean Carla Rodea – voice / Michael T.A. Thompson – drums
7:00pm Music for a Free World Septet: Dave Sewelson – baritone sax / Aquiles Navarro – trumpet / Steve Swell – trombone / Dave Hofstra – tuba / Ava Mendoza – guitar / William Parker – bass / Marvin “Bugalu” Smith – drums
8:00pm Cooper-Moore Solo: Cooper-Moore – piano
8:45pm Dave Burrell & Darius Jones Duo: Dave Burrell – piano / Darius Jones – alto saxophone
9:45pm Matthew Shipp String Trio: Matthew Shipp – piano / Mat Maneri – viola / William Parker – bass
FRI, JULY 23 @ PIONEER WORKS
Amina Claudine Myers Lifetime of Achievement Celebration
6:00pm Composers Workshop Ensemble: Warren Smith – drums, percussion / Rod Williams – piano / Larry Roland – bass, poetry / James Zollar – trumpet / Patience Higgins – tenor sax / Don Slatoff – baritone sax / Lloyd Haber – drums, percussion
7:00pm Ingrid Laubrock’s Monochromes: Jon Irabagon – saxophones / Ingrid Laubrock – saxophones / Zeena Parkins – harp / Tom Rainey – drums / performing with pre-recorded tapes
8:00pm fly or die: jaimie branch – trumpet, voice, percussion / Lester St. Louis – cello, voice, percussion / Jason Ajemian- bass / Chad Taylor – drums, mbira, voice
9:30pm David Murray Octet Revival: David Murray – tenor sax, compositions / Lakecia Benjamin – alto sax / Terry Greene II – trombone / Josh Evans – trumpet / Mingus Murray – guitar / David Bryant – piano / Dezron Douglas – bass / Russell Carter – drums
SAT, JULY 31 @ THE CLEMENTE, LA PLAZA OUTDOORS
Tribute to Milford Graves
6:00pm Andrew Cyrille: Andrew Cyrille – drum set
7:00pm Joe McPhee Octet Tribute to Milford Graves: Warren Smith – vibes / Jay Rosen – drums/ Brandon Lopez, Michael Bisio– bass / James Keepnews – guitar / Jason Kao Hwang, Rosie Hertlein – violin / Joseph McPhee – reeds, brass
8:30pm Tribute to Milford Graves: William Parker – bass / Lee Mixashawn Rozie – woodwinds / D.D. Jackson – piano / William Hooker – drums / Francisco Mela – drums9:30pm Drum, Horn, and Dance Tribute to Milford Graves
In Person Tickets: Daily $65 | Full Pass $300 | VIP Pass $750
Guitarist and composer Marc Ribot has shared the first single, “The Activist,” off the upcoming album from Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, Hope, due out on June 25.
album art for “Hope”
Described by the Village Voice, Ceramic Dog’s bark is just about equal to its bite. The music snarls and snaps with self-awareness, righteous fury, and, inevitably, cynical detachment. The group also features bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Ches Smith of the avant-garde based group Secret Chiefs 3. With this ferocity in mind, Ribot speaks of the first single, “Hope.”
I like to rant. Ranting is a kind of semi-involuntary spewing of something that seems to be very urgent. This particular rant came up after going to a lot of Activist meetings. Now, don’t get me wrong: some of my best friends are Activists. I’ve even been accused of being one myself (although after reading Astra Taylor’s essay “Against Activism” I try to aspire to being an organizer, or at least a radical).
Anyway— I got frustrated at a couple of meetings because of people trying to posture as the most super rad instead of getting things done. Later, I was supposed to be working on a reasonable position paper of something: but stuff like this came out instead: “I don’t accept sidewalks, I walk on my hands in heavy traffic, and even that is a compromise. I don’t accept gravity, or teeth! I don’t accept you, or what the mainstream media refers to as your cute little (and I quote) “doggie.” Shahzad and Ches (my Ceramic Dog comrades) thought it was funny, so we started doing it live/improvised— and eventually came up with this jam. Party!
Marc Ribot
Ribot as born in Newark, NJ and played guitar in various garage bands while studying under mentor, Haitian classical guitarist and composer Frantz Casseus. After moving to New York City in 1978, Ribot was a member of the soul/punk Realtones, and John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards (1984-89). Between 1979 and 1985, Ribot also worked as a side musician with Brother Jack McDuff, Wilson Pickett, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Chuck Berry, and many others. Pre-order Hopehere.
Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog – Upcoming Shows June 6 – Co-presented Burlington Discover Jazz Fest @ The Backyard at Nectar’s, Burlington, VT –
June 6 – Co-presented Burlington Discover Jazz Fest @ The Backyard at Nectar’s, Burlington, VT –
